A couple last-day surprises added more intrigue to an already lively and exciting local race, and the Canby City Council is now guaranteed to have some new faces on it come January.
Canby High School government and history teacher Christopher Bangs pulled paperwork Thursday morning — the last day to file — and scrambled to gather the necessary signatures to qualify before the 5 p.m. filing deadline.
Meanwhile, another incumbent, current Council President Tim Dale, allowed the deadline to pass without turning in his own final application. Dale is a software engineer who has served as a councilor since being appointed in 2011.
He was appointed, ironically, to replace another candidate in this year’s race, Jason Padden. Padden had stepped down from the council after two years due to work commitments related to the job he held at that time.
Dale is one of two Canby natives and CHS graduates on the council, the other being Sarah Spoon. The Canby Now Podcast has reached out to Dale for comment.
Spoon and Councilor Traci Hensley did file for re-election. They will be joined in the race by Padden and newcomers James Hieb, Jordan Tibbals and Bangs.
Padden is a broker sales representative for McHutchison Horticultural Distributors, and has also served on and chaired the Canby Budget Committee, as well as the Canby Urban Renewal Board and a street maintenance task force.
Hieb is the director of the Building Blocks Early Learning Center in Wilsonville, and has served as the elected precinct committee person for voter precinct 124 (North Canby) in House District 39 and treasurer for the Young Republicans of Oregon. He also served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2003 to 2007.
Tibbals is also a Marine veteran who works in trading grains and commodities. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Oregon State University. He has been active this summer in several pro-police events.
Bangs holds a Master of Arts in Teaching from Lewis & Clark College and earned his bachelor’s degree at Portland State.
Incumbent Mayor Brian Hodson, who is the executive director of an Avamere senior care facility, ended the day unopposed in his bid for a fifth term in office. The former one-term city councilor has not drawn an opponent since he first won the position from incumbent Randy Carson in 2012.
Councilors serve four-year terms, with their expiration dates alternating such that three of them normally open every two years. The fourth seat in this election is the result of former Councilor Tracie Heidt’s resignation last year.
Trig Berge was appointed to replace her, but per the city charter, his appointment was only until the next city election — not the full unexpired term. In his own surprising twist this week, Berge announced his resignation at Wednesday night’s City Council meeting due to moving outside the city.
Councilors are elected at large, meaning the top three vote-getters (or in this case, the top four) will win the open seats. For this election, the candidate with the fourth-most votes will serve only the remaining two years of Heidt’s original term.
The mayor of Canby serves only a two-year term. All city offices are nonpartisan.
